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Museo Estación Chamberí - Estación Fantasma (Ghost Train Station Museum)
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Ever wonder what an everyday life was like in the 1920’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s? When commuting was an adventure and traveling even a few miles on the metro could be an event. Estación Fantasma, Madrid's Ghost Station, offers visitors just this and at no charge.
Commuters between the Bilbao and Iglesia stops always saw Chamberí but never did a train stop; no riders queued to hop aboard, the station didn’t even appear on modern maps. But it was there. The story of how Estación Fantasma, an inner city metro stop, came to be a beloved museum is one of creative repurposing of a lovely and historic bit of Madrid.
On Line 1, the Chamberí metro station was a stop on one of the first lines of the city’s metro system. When King Alfonso XIII officially opened the station in October of 1917 the line was only 4 km, not quite 2.5 miles, long and ran from Puerta del Sol to Cuatro Caminos.
During the Spanish Civil War the metro stations served a dual purpose; they were both air raid shelters and storage facilities. After the war and as Spain began an economic recovery, the population of Madrid grew as did the city boundaries.
To accommodate the growing populace’s commuting needs, new metro lines designed for 6 carriage trains were added in the 1960s. Station platforms on Line 1 were enlarged to coincide with the wider platforms on the newer Madrid metro lines. Chamberí station, because it was built on a curve, could not be adapted to handle the new longer trains and the station was abandoned.
In 1996 the Madrid Regional Transportation Authority (Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid) decided to restore the Chamberí metro station to its original state and convert it into a museum. Work began in 2006 and two years later Chamberí reopened to the public as a museum.
The beautiful old station has been restored from top to bottom – floors, walls, vaults and a new very elegant entrance. Setting the mood, Estación Fantasma is complete with antique furniture, fixtures and a recreated spiral staircase. Lining the curved walls of the platform are replicas of decades old brightly colored advertisements for perfumes, bottled water, light bulbs and other daily necessities. All are individually designed and reproduced along the exact lines of the originals; many are fashioned from hand cut and hand painted ceramic tiles.
The upper floor of the museum hosts a short 20 minute film (also free and only in Spanish) about the history of the Chamberí metro station. A thick clear glass barrier separates the visitor from the actual railroad tracks as today’s trains zip past.
Museum hours of operation: Tuesday to Friday 10am to 7pm (19.00) and weekends and holidays from 10am to 2pm (14.00).
Admission is Free.
Commuters between the Bilbao and Iglesia stops always saw Chamberí but never did a train stop; no riders queued to hop aboard, the station didn’t even appear on modern maps. But it was there. The story of how Estación Fantasma, an inner city metro stop, came to be a beloved museum is one of creative repurposing of a lovely and historic bit of Madrid.
On Line 1, the Chamberí metro station was a stop on one of the first lines of the city’s metro system. When King Alfonso XIII officially opened the station in October of 1917 the line was only 4 km, not quite 2.5 miles, long and ran from Puerta del Sol to Cuatro Caminos.
During the Spanish Civil War the metro stations served a dual purpose; they were both air raid shelters and storage facilities. After the war and as Spain began an economic recovery, the population of Madrid grew as did the city boundaries.
To accommodate the growing populace’s commuting needs, new metro lines designed for 6 carriage trains were added in the 1960s. Station platforms on Line 1 were enlarged to coincide with the wider platforms on the newer Madrid metro lines. Chamberí station, because it was built on a curve, could not be adapted to handle the new longer trains and the station was abandoned.
In 1996 the Madrid Regional Transportation Authority (Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid) decided to restore the Chamberí metro station to its original state and convert it into a museum. Work began in 2006 and two years later Chamberí reopened to the public as a museum.
The beautiful old station has been restored from top to bottom – floors, walls, vaults and a new very elegant entrance. Setting the mood, Estación Fantasma is complete with antique furniture, fixtures and a recreated spiral staircase. Lining the curved walls of the platform are replicas of decades old brightly colored advertisements for perfumes, bottled water, light bulbs and other daily necessities. All are individually designed and reproduced along the exact lines of the originals; many are fashioned from hand cut and hand painted ceramic tiles.
The upper floor of the museum hosts a short 20 minute film (also free and only in Spanish) about the history of the Chamberí metro station. A thick clear glass barrier separates the visitor from the actual railroad tracks as today’s trains zip past.
Museum hours of operation: Tuesday to Friday 10am to 7pm (19.00) and weekends and holidays from 10am to 2pm (14.00).
Admission is Free.
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